Set up in Senagadsari village, the community radio is a collaborative venture of People's Power Collective (PPC) and Mandakini Ki Awaz (MKA), PPC founder and the woman behind the project Savitha Thomas said.

To be run by local communities, broadcast rights were granted to the radio by the Centre in December last year, she said.

The community radio will feature programmes in the local Garhwali dialect on health, education, culture, livelihood, disaster management and women's empowerment, Thomas said.

Considering poor connectivity and communication systems in the hill district, the community radio can serve as a very effective instrument for disseminating information at the local level, she said.

PPC and MKA spent at least nine months to train local people in how to manage community radio.

Kedarnath MLA Shailarani Rawat and District Disaster Management officer Meera Kaintura were present at the launch.